Stocks hit all-time highs last week and a phase-one trade deal with China has been announced without details, and stocks were indicated to post a marginally higher opening price on Monday. Investors have moved away from any imminent recession calls, they believe impeachment news is tolerable, and they are expecting interest rates to remain more or less flat for 2020. They are also seeing more upside calls for 2020 stock market performance. There are, of course, still many pressing issues and risks to consider, now that the bull market has raged longer than a decade. Investors should be considering what changes to make in their portfolios and assets heading into 2020.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to find new ideas for traders and long-term investors alike. Some of the daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while other calls cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

We have provided these calls in a quick-hit summary for easy reading, and additional comments and trading data have been added on some calls. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Refinitiv sell-side research service.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations for Monday, December 16, 2019.

Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ACAD) was started as Buy with a $60 target price (versus a $44.34 prior close) at Guggenheim.

Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) was reiterated as Buy and its target price was raised to $368 (versus a $317.94 close) at Argus.

AGCO Corp. (NYSE: AGCO) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight with an $88 target price (versus a $77.04 close) at Morgan Stanley.

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) was reiterated as Buy with a $270 target price (versus a $236.74 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Apple Hospitality REIT Inc. (NYSE: APLE) was started with a Buy rating and an $18 target price (versus a $15.77 close) at Janney, with the firm talking up its 7% yield.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) was maintained as Neutral but its target price was raised to $37 from $29 at Citigroup.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE: BK) was maintained as Neutral but its target price was raised to $55 from $45 (versus a $50.22 close) at Citigroup.

Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE: BSX) was reiterated as Overweight and its target price was raised to $52 (versus a $45.09 close) at Wells Fargo.

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO) was down nearly 4% to $315.42 in Friday’s post-earnings reaction. Argus reiterated it as Buy with a $385 price target. Citigroup reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target to $378 from $340.

CBOE Global Markets Inc. (BATS: CBOE) was started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CME) was started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $255 target price (versus a $225.00 close) at Citigroup.

Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE: ICE) was started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Kennametal Inc. (NYSE: KMT) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $42 price target (versus a $37.40 close) at Wells Fargo.

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: MKTX) was started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) was raised to Positive from Neutral with an $85 target price (versus a $51.20 close) at Susquehanna.

Nasdaq Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ) was started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Nice Ltd. (NASDAQ: NICE) was reiterated as Outperform and the target price was raised to $185 from $170 (versus a $155.27 close) at Wedbush Securities.

PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF) was raised to Neutral from Sell with a $17 target price (versus a $17.17 close) at Citigroup.

REV Group Inc. (NYSE: REVG) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight with an $11 target price (versus a $12.92 close) at Morgan Stanley.

Tradeweb Markets Inc. (NASDAQ: TW) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral and its target price was raised to $54 from $51 (versus a $44.82 close) at Credit Suisse.

Truist Financial Corp. (NYSE: TFC) was started as Neutral with a $55 target price at Credit Suisse.

UnitedHealth Group, Inc. (NYSE: UNH) was reiterated as Buy with a $330 target price (versus a $285.48 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) was downgraded to Hold from Buy with a $28 target price (versus a $26.75 close) at Loop Capital.

US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) was raised to Neutral from Sell with a $62 target price (versus a $60.27 close) at Citigroup.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX) was reiterated as Buy and the target price was raised to $248 (versus a $218.98 close) at Argus.

WPX Energy Inc. (NYSE: WPX) was downgraded to Hold from Buy with a $12 target price (versus a $10.91 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Xenia Hotels & Resorts Inc. (NYSE: XHR) was started with a Neutral rating and a $23.50 target price (versus a $21.19 close) at Janney.

Credit Suisse has issued its 2020 outlook on Utilities & Alternative Energy in a call titled “Getting Meaner and Less Defensive.” For the utilities sector into 2020, the firm sees relative outperformance for integrated utilities, with some non-utility exposure and more reversion to mean among the regulateds. The firm sees funds shifting away from the highest defensive P/E stocks and into less expensive value stocks. Among the Integrated with Outperform ratings are Exelon Corp. (NYSE: EXC), NextEra Energy Inc. (NYSE: NEE) and Vistra Energy Corp. (NYSE: VST). Pinnacle West Capital Corp. (NYSE: PNW) is Outperform among the regulated utilities, and Underperform ratings remain in WEC Energy Group Inc. (NYSE: WEC) and Spire Inc. (NYSE: SR).

Here is a preliminary look at the Dogs of the Dow for 2020, assuming prices and yields remain the same.

Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Adobe, Biogen, Bristol-Myers, Broadcom, Charles Schwab, Ciena, Etsy, Gilead Sciences, Oracle, Sarepta Therapeutics, Snap, Wayfair and many more.

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